Warm Cap with Security Features

ABSTRACT

According to embodiments of the disclosed technology, systems, methods and devices are provided for wholly or partially obscuring the vision of a pet electronically using a cap worn on the head of the pet. In one embodiment, the cap has a screen or lens disposed proximate to the pet&#39;s eyes. The screen is capable of identifying an object or living thing that may be threatened by the pet, and wholly or partially obscuring the object from the vision of the pet to prevent the pet from being able to see and/or attack the object. An additional safety measure of the cap may be to completely darken or whiten the vision of the pet such that the pet is temporarily impaired from seeing anything. Still further, audio may also be used to distract or draw the pet&#39;s attention away the from target object.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention generally relates to caps for pets. Specifically, thisinvention relates to allowing users to communicate each other viadevices, and to using a cap to provide warming capability to a pet andusing the cap to control the pet's aggressive behavior.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Garments worn by living organism, such as pets and humans are popular.For example, caps for cats and dogs are very common. The purpose ofhaving pets wear caps seems obvious. That is, to keep them warm,especially during the winter. On the other hand, there are capsavailable in the market that seeks to give some protection to the headsof the pets wearing them. Thus, some caps serve dual purposes.

However, there are hardly any caps that come with security features thatprevent these living things from getting aggressive to the point thatthe aggressive behavior may pose threats to human beings or other livingthings. These combined features have not yet been offered in the petproduct market. Therefore, in view of the foregoing, it would be highlybeneficial to the pet product industry to have high tech caps for petswhich serve as a humane visual muzzle for protecting humans from suddenattacks by pets.

Therefore, it is an objective of the disclosed technology to provide aninteractive cap to be worn by a pet which electronically manipulateswhat a pet can and can't see.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to embodiments of the invention, systems, methods and devicesare provided for wholly or partially obscuring the vision of a petelectronically using a cap worn on the head of the pet. In oneembodiment, the cap has a screen or lens disposed proximate to the pet'seyes. The screen is capable of identifying an object or living thingthat may be threatened by the pet, and wholly or partially obscuring theobject from the vision of the pet to prevent the pet from being able tosee and/or attack the object. An additional safety measure of the capmay be to completely darken or whiten the vision of the pet such thatthe pet is temporarily impaired from seeing anything.

In an embodiment of the disclosed invention, a garment is used forkeeping head temperature warm while providing security features. A“garment”, for purposes of this specification, is defined as anyaccessory or article of attire that may be donned or worn on the headand/or the face. The garment may have one or more of the followingcomponents: a) a cap adapted to change a temperature of a living thingwearing the cap; b) a screen disposed within the cap; c) an audio devicedisposed on or in the cap; and/or d) a smart chip in the cap.

The screen may display imagery located in a viewable periphery of theliving thing wearing the cap. The screen may also darken a target objectdisplayed on the screen such that the target object is not clearlyvisible on the screen, wherein the target object is an object underthreat of attack by the living thing. The audio device may produce soundto direct the living thing in a direction away from the target object.

The smart chip may be a processor, such as a processor used in acomputing device. The smart chip may be configured to perform thefollowing functions/steps, not necessarily in the following order: a)capture the viewable periphery of the living thing using a camera; b)determine whether the living thing intends to aggressively pursue thetarget object by tracking movement of the living thing and monitoringany sudden change of speed and direction of the living thing; c) darkenthe target object and display the darkened target object on the screen;and/or d) verify if the living thing is successfully precluded fromattacking the target object by measuring movement of the living thingafter darkening the target object on the screen.

The smart chip may also carry out one or more contingency functions,which are contingent upon the living thing's behavior. For example, ifthe living thing continues to pursue the target object, highlight otherobjects that are distant from the target object to further distract tothe living thing. If the living thing still continues to pursue thetarget object, produce sound to direct the living thing away from thetarget object.

In a further embodiment of the disclosed technology, the smart chip mayfacilitate one or more of the following additional functions, notnecessarily in the following order: a) blackening the entire screen ofthe cap to prevent the living thing from seeing anything; b) whiteningthe entire screen of the cap to prevent the living thing from seeinganything; and/or c) cooling down the living object by turning down thetemperature of the material of the cap.

In accordance with these and other objects which will become apparenthereinafter, the invention will now be described with particularreference to the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a pet cap according to an embodiment ofthe disclosed technology.

FIG. 2 is close up view of what a pet might see on a screen within thepet cap according to an embodiment of the disclosed technology.

FIG. 3 is a high-level block diagram of a microprocessor device that maybe used to carry out the disclosed technology.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

According to embodiments of the invention, systems, methods and devicesare provided for wholly or partially obscuring the vision of a petelectronically using a cap worn on the head of the pet. In oneembodiment, the cap has a screen or lens disposed proximate to the pet'seyes. The screen is capable of identifying an object or living thingthat may be threatened by the pet, and wholly or partially obscuring theobject from the vision of the pet to prevent the pet from being able tosee and/or attack the object. An additional safety measure of the capmay be to completely darken or whiten the vision of the pet such thatthe pet is temporarily impaired from seeing anything.

Referring now to the figures, a cap is provided. The cap may be anygarment that is capable of being placed on the head of an animal and/orover the eyes of the animal. Thus, the cap may be any headpiece, such asa bandana, wool hat, goggles, etc.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a pet cap according to an embodiment ofthe disclosed technology. The cap 10 may be formed of any type ofmaterial, such as cloth, leather, plastic, rubber, etc. The cap 10 maybe rigid, semi-rigid or flexible. The cap 10 generally has a goggle oreye-covering portion 25 that corresponds to the pets' eyes when the capis being worn. The eye-covering portion 25 may have a lens or screen 20through which the pet can see. The screen 20 may be transparent,translucent or opaque. In the opaque embodiment, an image is projectedor displayed on the screen from camera or other sensor capturing theenvironment in the pet's periphery.

The screen 20 may operate in similar fashion to an optical head-mounteddisplay (“OHMD”) and/or computer. Thus, the cap 10 may have a processor,smart chip, memory, input/output, power supply, speakers and/or anyother component of a computer. The smart chip may control and manipulatewhat is and what isn't seen on the screen 20.

Referring still to FIG. 1, an earpiece 30 may also be disposed on theportion of the cap 10 corresponding to the pet's ears. Certain soundsmay be played in the earpiece 30 in an attempt to alter or influence theactions of the pet. For example, if the pet is presently posing a dangerto a human directly in front of the pet, the earpiece 30 may simulate asound of another animal or other distraction present to the sides of orbehind the pet.

FIG. 2 is close up view of what a pet might see on a screen within thepet cap according to an embodiment of the disclosed technology. Thescreen 20 may be an LCD screen, an LED screen or any other type ofdisplay. Alternatively, the screen 20 may be formed of transparent ortranslucent glass or plastic. The glass or plastic may be capable ofdisplaying digital or electronic visualizations thereon. Thevisualizations may be interactive with the surrounding environment insimilar manner to optical head-mounted displays of the prior art. Acamera or other sensor (not shown) may constantly monitor and analyzethe periphery of the pet.

In addition to the camera, additional sensors may monitor the movement,direction, orientation, vital information and any other data relevant tothe pet's behavior. The measured information may then be used by thesmart chip to make an informed decision as to whether the pet is likelyto attack or is in the process of attacking a target object, such ashuman being or other pet.

Referring still to FIG. 2, a baby 41 is shown as the target object. Thebaby 41 is an example of the type of living thing or person that a petwould potentially pose a danger to. Thus, the baby 41 may be recognizedand identified by the smart chip as a target object 50. As such, in thecurrent example shown in FIG. 2, the baby 41 is identified as apotential target object 50. Thus, the smart chip operates to blur thepet's view of the baby 42. Alternatively, the smart chip may entirelyblock the baby from the pet's view.

FIG. 3 is a high-level block diagram of a microprocessor device that maybe used to carry out the disclosed technology. The device 300 may or maynot be a computing device. The device 300 comprises a microchip (alsoreferred to as “a smart chip”) and/or processor 350 that controls theoverall operation of a computer by executing the reader's programinstructions which define such operation. The device's programinstructions may be stored in a storage device 320 (e.g., magnetic disk,database) and loaded into memory 330 when execution of the console'sprogram instructions is desired. Thus, the device's operation will bedefined by its program instructions stored in memory 330 and/or storage320, and the console will be controlled by the processor 350 executingthe console's program instructions.

The device 300 may also include one or a plurality of input networkinterfaces for communicating with other devices via a network (e.g., theinternet). The device 300 further includes an electrical input interfacefor receiving power and data from a power or wireless data source. Thedevice 300 may also include one or more output network interfaces 310for communicating with other devices. The device 300 may also includeinput/output 340 representing devices which allow for user interactionwith a computer (e.g., display, keyboard, mouse, speakers, buttons,etc.).

One skilled in the art will recognize that an implementation of anactual device will contain other components as well, and that FIG. 2 isa high level representation of some of the components of such a devicefor illustrative purposes. It should also be understood by one skilledin the art that the devices depicted and described with respect to FIG.1 may be implemented on a device such as is shown in FIG. 2. Thus, thedevice 300 of FIG. 2 may describe the inner workings of any of thedevices 110, 120, 130, 140 and/or the server on which the cloud-basedsystem 100 is hosted.

While the disclosed invention has been taught with specific reference tothe above embodiments, a person having ordinary skill in the art willrecognize that changes can be made in form and detail without departingfrom the spirit and the scope of the invention. The describedembodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrativeand not restrictive. All changes that come within the meaning and rangeof equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.Combinations of any of the methods, systems, and devices describedhereinabove are also contemplated and within the scope of the invention.

1. A smart device for dogs, comprising: a cap adapted to be worn on ahead of a dog, a sensor disposed on the cap for detecting a possibletarget object, the sensor adapted to detect the presence of anotherliving thing in a viewable periphery of the dog, which may be deemed atarget object; and an electronic screen disposed within a transparenteyepiece of the cap, wherein the screen: displays imagery located in theviewable periphery of the dog wearing the cap; and obscuring the targetobject viewed through the screen such that the target object is notclearly visible through the eyepiece, wherein the target object isdeemed to be at threat of being attacked by the dog.
 2. The smart deviceof claim 1, further comprising: a smart chip in the cap configured to:record the viewable periphery of the dog using a camera; determinewhether the dog intends to aggressively pursue the target object bytracking movement of the dog and detecting any sudden change of speedand direction of the dog; and obscuring the view of the target objectsuch that the target object is not viewable through the eyepiece.
 3. Thesmart device of claim 2, wherein the smart chip is further configuredto: verify if the living thing is successfully precluded from attackingthe target object by detecting movement of the living thing afterobscuring the target object on the screen; and if the living thingcontinues to pursue the target object, highlighting other objects thatare distant from the target object to further distract the dog; and ifthe living thing still continues to pursue the target object, producesound to direct the dog away from the target object.
 4. The smart deviceof claim 1, further comprising a function of temporarily obscuring theentire screen of the cap to prevent the dog from seeing anything at all.5. The smart device of claim 1, wherein the obscuring is carried outusing electrochromic glass incorporated into the eyepiece.
 6. The smartdevice of claim 1, further comprising a heating element disposed in thecap for projecting heat onto the head of the dog.
 7. The smart device ofclaim 6, further comprising a cooling element disposed in the cap forprojecting heat onto the head of the dog.
 8. The smart device of claim1, wherein the sensor is a thermal imaging camera operable to detectbody heat radiated from living organisms.
 9. The smart device of claim8, wherein the thermal imaging camera differentiates between species andstature of the target object based on detected temperature and size ofradiated heat.
 10. The smart device of claim 9, wherein the thermalimaging camera is operable to prioritize protection of babies andtoddlers.
 11. The smart device of claim 1, wherein the sensor is anultrasound device.
 12. The smart device of claim 1, wherein the sensoris a camera operable to detect movement.
 13. The smart device of claim2, wherein the camera is also used as the sensor for detecting thetarget object.
 14. The smart device of claim 1, further comprising aspeaker for emitting audio into an ear of the dog.
 15. A smart devicefor dogs, comprising: a garment for covering at least the eyes on ananimals face; a transparent lens for particularly covering the eyes ofthe animal; a heads-up display for projecting digital imagery and texton the lens; a camera for capturing a periphery of the animal; and asmart chip for identifying and obscuring a baby, toddler or child in theperiphery of the camera.